“THANKSGIVING ROULETTE”
By

Gerry Niskern

Do you have your genealogy research all done in time for your family’s Thanksgiving gathering? Due to Twenty-three-and-Me, Ancestor, and a few more websites, everyone now has a chance to learn about their immigrant ancestors.
Of course, some went into the search with the expectation of find a distant Prussian General, or at least an English Duke in the family tree! Most find out they are descendants of hard working immigrants who poured into America in the l800’s and early l900s. Those early relatives learned about Thanksgiving Day gradually, as well as about our country’s the laws, taxes and social mores.
My own grandfather, from Austria, was recruited to come work in the coal mines in West Virginia. My mother often told of when she started to first grade, and her dad, my grandpa had her sit with him at the kitchen table and help him learn to read the newspaper. He was very anxious to learn about our democracy and how this government worked.
Grandpa had served the required seven years in the army of Emperor Franz Joseph before he was allowed to come to the United States. My mother often told of how, as he learned to read English, he marveled at our freedoms allowed in our constitution. He reminded his children to be thankful they were growing up in a country where there was no King or Dictator.
When the kids learned about Thanksgiving in school, they told my Grandmother she had to roast a turkey, and prepare a big feast so they could have the special day of Thanksgiving like other American families.
And of course, Thanksgiving was celebrated, but my grandmother refused to buy a turkey when she had lots of chickens, and besides, she always declared, “You don’t just give thanks on one day, You are supposed to give thanks every day!”